Kansas is filled with great places to get hamburgers, some
of them nearly 100 years old. Every restaurant included in this list of
the Top Ten Burgers in Kansas has been sampled by our editors on at least
two occasions, if not many more.

#10
The
Bowman's Nu Grille Cafe restaurant
in Fort Scott, Kansas is the kind of classic place and food that
I am always looking for. Nu Grill opened in 1946. The front room has a
nice old counter where you can watch the food prepared and there are three
additional dining areas.

The made to order cheeseburgers with grilled onions are
thin, but well cooked and tasty. They are available in regular, jumbo and
double jumbo.

#9
There
has been a restaurant at the location of Bob's Grill in Pittsburg,
Kansas since 1946. It became Bob's Grill in 1964 and the current owner
is the third owner of the Grill. This little restaurant is open only for
breakfast and lunch, closing at 1PM on Saturdays and all day on Sundays.
Breakfast or lunch is available any time it is open.

The burger shown is the triple cheeseburger. It is served
with pickle, mustard and onion - grilled onion if you wish. Just a simple
greasy burger, but it is so good.

#8
B.R.G.R.
Kitchen and Bar was one of the first Kansas City area gourmet burger
restaurants when it opened in 2010 in the Corinth Square Shopping Center
in Prairie Village, Kansas. B.R.G.R has made a number of changes
since it first opened. Most of them are for the better, for example, the
half pound burgers are now one thick burger, rather than the two thin burgers
they served at first.

#7
Beef
Burgers are are a locally popular sandwich in the Fredonia, Kansas area.
Beef
Burger Bob's first opened in Fredonia, Kansas in the 1950s as the
Iceberg Drive In. Bob and Tony Babcock bought the Iceberg in 1972. Over
time they expanded it into a restaurant and renamed it with the nickname
that their customers had given to Bob. After 37 years, they moved to a
smaller location in nearby
Neodesha, Kansas. The new location has
just 5 tables.

Beef burgers are loose meat sandwiches, much in the spirit
of NuWay and Maid-Rite. But beef burgers are not as crumbly and hold together
better.

#6
Ty's
Diner in Wichita, Kansas isn't a diner, but a 59 year old
hamburger joint. It is the kind of burger joint where people wait in line
most of the few hours Ty's is open each day. But the wait is rarely more
than 15 minutes. The menu is simple and the hamburgers are hand formed
from ground beef that is delivered each morning and the French fries are
cut fresh each day.

The burgers can be ordered with toppings such as jalapenos,
ham, bacon or grilled onions. You won't go wrong with the bacon cheeseburger.

#5
The
Nu-Way
Cafe on West Douglas in Wichita, Kansas is the flagship
of a small chain of restaurants serving crumbly, loose meat sandwiches
- much like Maid-Rite. This was the very first Nu-Way and opened on July
4, 1930. Nu-Way Cafe has good French fries and even better onion rings.
The great root beer is made daily and makes a wonderful root beer float.

The crumbly loose hamburgers are very good. Many people
visit the store just to try the product they remember from years ago when
there were more Nu-Way restaurants across the center of the country.

#4
The
Snack
Shack on Santa Fe in Overland Park, Kansas has gone through
several identities in a short time. It opened as the Shake Shack in 2010,
but after repeated threats of a lawsuit from a small fast food chain in
the eastern US, changed its name. The Snak Shack closed in the summer of
2011, but a new family reopened the restaurant as the "Snack" Shack on
Santa Fe in September of that year. The restaurant became more professional
and they started taking credit cards. Best of all, they kept using fresh
hamburger from Bichelmeyer Meats in Kansas City, Kansas.

The specialty burger that stands out is the Bobby Burger
which has two 1/3 pound patties, four slices of cheese, grilled onions
and jalapenos.

#3
Downtown
Diner is located just a few blocks east of the Johnson County Courthouse
in Olathe, Kansas. The restaurant is owned by Rich and Sue Caines
who used to operate the restaurant at the Double Nickel. Rich runs the
kitchen, while Sue runs the front of the house. The Caines are doing a
lot of things right, including offering great specialty burgers, breakfast
all day and excellent smoked meats. They even raise their own pigs.

We like several of the specialty burgers. My new favorite
is the Sheboygan burger - hamburger, Swiss cheese, house made Italian sausage,
grilled onions, sauerkraut.

#2
Bomber
Burger in Wichita, Kansas first opened in 1951 and it has
been in the Rickard family since 1985. Chris Rickard, who presently runs
it, took over in 1997 following the death of his father, Paul Rickard.
Bomber Burger has a counter with seven stools and four small, two person
tables. The food is served with an attitude.

The burgers are grilled slowly (15-20 minutes), so they
stay very moist. They are sprinkled with a secret mixture of garlic powder
& other spices and, despite being more done then I prefer, are the
best cheeseburgers I have had in Wichita.

#1
The
Prairie
Nut Hut in
Altoona, Kansas is a unique little bar and grill.
Originally opened in the 1940s or 50s (the present owners are uncertain),
the Prairie Nut Hut was operated as the A&B Tavern and well known for
serving mountain oysters until closing in the 1980s. It was reopened mid
1990s, and is now a fun place to get generous servings of hamburgers, chicken
fried steak and mountain oysters.

As good as the mountain oysters at Altoona's Prairie Nut
Hut are, the hamburgers are even better. The Rohr burger (with grilled
onions, mushrooms and Swiss cheese) is as good a burger as I have ever
had.